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Tobey Maguire caught in tangled legal web over poker winnings

Thanks to a lawsuit, we may finally get to the bottom of how Peter Parker juggled rent, Aunt May’s medical bills and web fluid. Spoiler: It’s not from freelancing for the Daily Bugle.

Radar Online and Star magazine report that Tobey Maguire, who starred in director Sam Raimi’s three Spider-Man films, is being sued for$311,000 he allegedly won in poker from now-imprisoned hedge fund manager Brad Ruderman. It seems the Ponzi-schemer was gambling (rather poorly) with his investors’ money — $5.2 million out of the $25 million he embezzled — in a series of high-stakes poker games held twice weekly from 2006 to 2009 in Beverly Hills. Now those investors want it back.

The no-limit games of Texas Hold ’em, with their $100,000 buy-in, are alleged to have attracted such celebrities as Leonardo DiCarpio, Ben Affleck (Matt Murdock!) and Matt Damon. They’re also not legal which, according to the lawsuit, means Maguire and others aren’t entitled to the money they won from Ruderman. While DiCaprio, Affleck and Damon aren’t being sued, several others are, including director Nick Cassavetes, Welcome Back, Kotter star Gabe Kaplan and billionaire businessman Alex Gores.

According to Star, Maguire was a “very, very frequent player” whoraked in as much as $1 million a month from the games, and won $110,000 from Ruderman in a single hand. While underground poker clubs are illegal in California, the crime is rarely prosecuted.

Ruderman, former CEO of Ruderman Capital Partners, was convicted on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of investment adviser fraud. He’s serving a 10-year prison sentence in Texas, and is due for release in 2018.